Length: approximately 750-1000 words. Format: Word processed, double spaced, attach your first draft to the final draft. (No outline, no title page). Assignment: Write an essay on one (1) of the following choices. Make sure that you have a strong thesis statement and topic sentences for your essay no matter which topic you choose. 1. Several of the play’s characters have theories about Hamlet’s state of mind (is he insane?). Locate statements made by Polonius, Gertrude, and Claudius about Hamlet’s state of mind. Explain whether or not these three characters think Hamlet is insane and what theory each of these three characters holds about why Hamlet behaves as he does. Why do you think Hamlet behaves as he does? (Make sure that you form your own analysis/argument. Do not write the essay in an answers-to-homework-questions format. In other words, write a coherent essay rather than list answers to the prewriting questions/essay prompt.) 2. Compare and contrast EITHER Hamlet and Laertes or Gertrude and Ophelia. Tie the characters to a main theme and to a discussion about why the characters’ similarities and differences are significant. (Make sure that you have a strong claim in your thesis. Simply saying that the two characters are similar or different indicates ONLY organization, not content. 3. Write a detailed analysis of one of Hamlet’s soliloquies; consider themes, puns, imagery, figures of speech, sentence structure, word choice, etc. 4. Consider Hamlet as a tragic hero in respect to Aristotle’s definition of tragedy and tragic heroes. How well is does the definition fit? Is Hamlet a tragic hero or a revenge hero or both?